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Have you ever wondered why you have been left on earth? For the same reason God sent Jesus to the earth; to serve, to suffer, and to ascend. Through our adoption as the people of God, we have received a noble charter to do the same. Note what Jesus Christ did after His resurrection and before His ascension as recorded in John 20:21. He passed on to His disciples the same privilege that He was given, to fulfill the grand purposes of God: Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to all of you. Even as the Father has commissioned me, also I myself am commissioning you.’ In this same context He breathed on them and told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Also He shared with them the message of forgiveness of sins for others. His life pattern now belonged to them. To participate in Jesus’ life and ministry is a great and unique responsibility. Just as the sending of Christ was a non-repeatable event, so this sending of those who trusted in Christ is something that never occurred before. God did something unique for believers, a privilege Israel did not experience. Paul tells us that God treated the nation of Israel like a young child, who was placed under a guardian or administrator until he reached adulthood. In Galatians 3:23, Paul, referring to the Jews, says: Before the coming of the faith, we were being kept under guard by the law. This is a very interesting image. The Greek verb “guard” means to guard like a garrison. A Greek guardian had two purposes: to keep danger away, and to keep his ward safe. The ward was not in prison but in protective custody, so to speak. The young person was protected, but with no freedom. Paul says that under the law a person is in protective custody under an administrator and guardian, or child guide. One responsibility of this guide was to safely take the child to his teacher. Galatians 3:24 explains to us who the law is supposed to lead the child to: So the law is a child guide until Christ should come, in order that out of faith we should be made right. Notice this beautiful image. The law is taking the nation of Israel by the hand. Every time the nation of Israel slows down, the law pulls them along, and when they finally get to the teacher, Jesus, the law breathes a sigh of relief and says, "Here he is, you can teach him now." Faith having come, no longer are we under a child guide, for everyone of you are mature sons through faith in Christ Jesus, (describing the quality of relationship we have) for whosoever among you were baptized into Christ, have been clothed with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There is neither slave nor free. There is neither male nor female. For you are all one person in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:25-28 Paul's image of the believer is not the napios, the protected child between the ages of one and ten. Paul's image of the believer is the mature son who doesn't need the child guide, who is going to have a relationship of affection and principle with his Father. He is going to participate in the family business. What is the family business? It is all about participating in the life of Jesus Christ and replicating His ministry. We are placed into Christ so that God could relate to us as mature sons. We are not little kids to be patronized and protected. But God says, "I am going to place them in my Son. We will have a relationship of principle and affection. I will ask them to participate in the life of the Son." No greater privilege could God give a creature in the universe than to participate in the life of the Son. No greater privilege can He give than to identify us with and immerse us completely into Jesus Christ. He did not do this for Israel. Why? Israel had a rulebook; we have the Son of God. Anyone who trusts in Christ is allowed to participate in His life, is placed in Him as a mature daughter or son, and is allowed to participate as an adult. Why do we have this privilege? God counts us as mature sons because we have believed in His Son. We have looked beyond His humanity, we have looked beyond His enslavement, and we have seen the Son. Because we have seen the Son clothed in human flesh and crucified on the cross, God has turned to us and said, "The rest of the world is blind to Him. Because you have seen Him, I will allow you to participate in His life." The ability to see the Son as He really is, is the greatest compliment you can pay to God. Correctly perceiving Jesus brings the greatest joy to the Father imaginable. Christ was sent to a world that recognized Him not. His own received him not. As John 1:12 states: But to those who received Him, He gave the authority to become the offspring of God. By simple recognition of who He is, we are allowed to participate in His mission. Notice how Galatians 4:4-5 affirms our adult son placement: But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order that He might redeem those under the law, that we might receive the adoption as adult sons and daughters. Adult son placement defines the quality of relationship that God wants from us. We may act like kids, but He wants us to respond like adult sons and daughters. We are told not to respond like smothered kids who are over-protected, who are scared of the dark. Nor are we to respond like slaves, who need to be beaten to move, but we are to respond like mature adult daughters and sons. We may act like kids, but He defines the kind of relationship He wants to have with us. He says, "I want a principled, affectionate relationship." We reply, "I can't believe that. Give me a rulebook, beat me and let me act like a kid, but don't expect me to respond with affection and principle." He will not manipulate us, or beat us, or patronize us. He waits for us. We may spend decades foolishly running around, driven by guilt, acting childishly, but He will wait. He has all eternity. On the one hand, we like Christ have been sent to serve, but on the other hand, our responsibility is not only to make the decision to do so, but also to bring a servant’s heart to the mission. The difference between a slave and a person in a principled relationship surfaces right at this point. The slave need only bring his body, but the person who has entered a principled and affectionate relationship has to bring a grateful and appreciative spirit. Gratitude is present because we appreciate that the Son of God became a slave for our benefit. If, and it is true, there is any encouragement in Christ, if there is any tender speaking (tender encouragement) which comes from agape love, if there is any partnership with the Spirit, if there is any deep emotional responses and tender mercies. . . Philippians 2:1 Christian service, therefore, is a life of immense privilege: we serve in the place of Christ, under His commission, participating in the family business of rescuing people in the world, and experiencing the life of Christ within.
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otice the following pattern. God
sent His Son, His Son served, God's Son suffered, and then after His
resurrection, the Son ascended. After His ascension, He was
rewarded. God established that destiny for His Son. For
you and me He has chosen the same destiny to become the pattern for
our lives. He could not think of a greater destiny for us than
to participate in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ today.
No greater destiny is possible for a mature daughter or son than to
participate in the life and ministry of the first-born Son.
